Peyton Wolcott - The American Superintendent

P E Y T O N W O L C O T T

h o w w e t a k e b a c k o u r c h i l d r e n ' s e d u c a t i o n --
o n e p e r s o n , o n e q u e s t i o n , o n e s c h o o l a t a t i m e . Copyright 1999-2006 Peyton Wolcott

Commentary

T H E A M E R I C A N S U P E R I N T E N D E N T

4 QUESTIONS SANTA CRUZ
COUNTY, ARIZONA VOTERS SHOULD
HAVE ASKED BEFORE ELECTING
ALFREDO VELASQUEZ
EDU-SUPE--PLUS 1 NEW QUESTION
By Peyton Wolcott - Oct. 15, 2006
- 10 am

ROSLYN, NEW YORK
A CAUTIONARY TALE
FOR ALL OF AMERICA
By Peyton Wolcott-Copyright 2007
First published Oct. 14, 2006
Updated Sun., Apr. 8, 2007/10 am

NEPOTISM UPDATE
"HIRE ME, HIRE MY SPOUSE"
By Peyton Wolcott - Oct. 14, 2006

Who is
Alfredo
Velasquez?
Is Santa Cruz

County's newest edu-supe,
elected in September, really the
mild-mannered veteran
schoolteacher depicted in his
campaign literature?

5 questions
Nogales-area residents
might be asking
themselves before
Velasquez is sworn into
office on Jan. 1, 2007:

Former ERDI consultant and long-time Plano ISD
supe Doug Otto and wife Bobbi Otto, also
employed by Plano ISD, standing above; below,
the Shores of Connally ISD

Former Roslyn
supe Frank
Tassone's
transit from a
respected if free-
spending public
school superin-
tendent who
wore expensive
custom suits
and took jet-set
trips on the
Concorde to
being hand-
cuffed to his
hospital bed for
failing to appear
in court for his
sentencing to
appearing in
court in an
orange prison
jumpsuit en
route to prison in
Mineola is truly a
cautionary tale
for all of America.

Developing

Question #1: Is someone
who was arrested for alleged
indecent exposure at a truck
stop in 1997 a likely candidate
to run a county school district?
(Note Velasquez's campaign
sign at base of truck stop
signage, above.) (See Question
#3 below) (See also letter to
editor below)

Question #2: Is someone
who was arrested for alleged
sexual assault on a young man
in 1998 at a motel a likely
candidate to run a county school
district? (Note Velasquez's
campaign billboard to the right
of the Arroyo Motel signage,
above.)

Alfredo Velasquez's empty chair
(see arrow) at Sept. 2006
candidates' forum; candidates
Lizzie Zamora-Menefee &
Eduardo Bernal attended both.

Question #3: Why did
Alfredo Velasquez avoid
appearing at candidate forums
in September? According to
Jesse Froehling in the Nogales
International, questions the
candidates were going to be
asked "ranged from the generic,
'Why will you be the best
candidate for the position?' to
the specific, 'What role will you
play in improving student
performance in Santa Cruz
County?' to the potentially
devastating, 'Have you ever
been arrested and if so, what
were the charges and the
disposition?' " Reports
Froehling, "Velasquez would
have had to answer
affirmatively to that question,
stemming from an arrest in
1997 on an indecent-exposure
charge that was subsequently
dismissed." Also, according to
that same report, "Velasquez
made an appointment to be
interviewed by a reporter for the
Nogales International regarding
the arrest and the reason for not
attending the forums on
Thursday morning but also
no-showed."

Two images of Suzanne Sainz,
Alfredo Velasquez's cousin--and
Santa Cruz County Recorder for
12 years; at left, official portrait,
at right, more recently.

Question #4: Does the
possible recall Suzanne Sainz,
Alfredo Velasquez's cousin and
Santa Cruz County Recorder, is
facing throw a shadow on
Velasquez's election? Among
Suzanne Sainz's official duties
as Santa Cruz County Recorder
for the past 12 years, she
"supplies and retains voter
registration forms. As well as,
assigning registration records to
its proper precinct, preparing the
voter list for candidates and
political parties, and preparing
voter rosters for the voting polls."
(SOURCE-- SCC Recorder's Office)
Recall petitioner Adriana
Covarrubias alleges, among
other charges, that Sainz
insisted that her staff focus
"strictly on updating voter
registration rolls" at the expense
of other Recorder's Office duties.
NOTE: Alfredo Velasquez won
his election by only 427 votes.

Question #5: How relevant
is a degree in "Fashion
Merchandising" to running a
county school district?

You'd have thought
Nogales voters would have
learned from their experiences
with their last supe, Robert
Canchola.

Then-Nogales supe Canchola,
employees in happier days

You remember Canchola. As we
reported on Feb. 10, despite 16
counts of theft, one count of
fraud, three counts of misspent
public monies and 20 counts of
conflicts of interest, all of which
he pleaded not guilty to in
December 2005, two months
later Santa Cruz County school
supe Robert Canchola
(Democrat) was still at work at his
job, a $56,400/year elected
position. (SOURCE--Nogales
International)

Canchola in court - June 2006

In fact, Canchola remained at
his post until his resignation in
April; on June 23 he was
sentenced to "60 days in county
jail, 250 hours of community
service, three years of
supervised probation and a
restitution payment of $41,495."
(Ibid.)

Canchola's already out, but
Santa Cruz County voters have
already replaced him with
another well-connected scion of
another well-known Nogales
family, Velasquez, leaving the
rest of America scratching our
heads and asking, "Why?"

A local resident
speaks up:
Sept. 22, 2006 letter to
the editor (Nogales
International)

Hard to believe
I cannot believe a town like
Nogales can vote a man in for
Superintendent (of schools) for
Santa Cruz County when he
cared not to debate with either of
the two worthy candidates,
because he was afraid or
ashamed to be asked about his
indecent exposure arrest, which
was dismissed. If you have
nothing to hide you have nothing
to be embarrassed with. If I were
in the states governing board I
would look into this as our kids
are involved.

Jack H. Skolnick
Rio Rico, Arizona

NOTE: Skolnick has long
served Santa Cruz County as a
volunteer; among his
philanthropies is Feed
American Children Today
which focuses on putting as
many books as possible in the
hands of American
schoolchildren, especially in
poor school districts with few
resources.

NOTE: The photographs of the candid-
ates forum, S.Sainz sitting, and both
of R.Canchola appeared in Nogales
International, without credit.

How we take back our children's education:
one person, one question, one school at a time.

AASA - American
Association of School
Administrators

ASA - Association of
School Administrators

CSD - Consolidated
School District

DOE - Department
of Education

ES - Elementary School

HS - High School

ISD - Independent
School District

JHS - Junior High School

MS - Middle School

MSM - Mainstream media

NSBA - National School
Boards Association

NSPRA - National School
Public Relations Association

PS - Public School(s)

SBEC - State Board for
Educator Certification

SD - School District

Sup't - Superintendent

TAKS - Texas Assessment
of
Knowledge & Skills

TASA - Texas Association
of School Administrators

TASB - Texas Association
of School Boards

TASBO - Texas Association
of School Business Officials

TEA - Texas
Education Agency

TEKS - Texas Essential
Knowledge & Skills

USD - UnifiedUnited School
District

GUIDE

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QUOTES

Separatists in
India's north-eastern
state of Manipur
have shot six male
teachers in the leg
for allegedly
helping students
cheat in exams.

Two women
teachers were
beaten with sticks
for the same offence,
the rebels of the
Kanglei Yana
Kan Lup group said.
The teachers were
abducted from their
homes after an exam
on Thursday.

The rebels said
the teachers
took up to 5,000
rupees ($110) for
helping students
cheat and warned
of further
punishment if the
cheating continued.

The Kanglei
Yana Kan Lup (KYKL)
is one of many
separatist
groups fighting
Indian administration
in Manipur.

It said it
abducted the eight
teachers from their
homes in and around
the state capital,
Imphal, because of
reports they had
taken bribes.

--By Subir Bhaumik -
BBC

ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS:
Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information. In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately. Thank you.

POP QUIZ:

How do you
yourself know for a
fact that your state
or local supe is
actually using the
funds entrusted to
them for the
correct purposes?

QUERY
THE SUPE
& THE PR GUY

TO:
KATHY COX-GEORGIA
SUP'T OF SCHOOLS &
CEO-GEORGIA DOE
CC:
DANA TOFIG-
GEORGIA DOE
PUBLIC INFO. OFCR.
DATE: JAN. 22, 2006

Can you please send me
the annual dollar
amount for each school
year (the five annual fiscal
cycles 2000-2005) that the
Georgia Public Schools
DOE has spent with
vendor Computer
Consulting Services
Corp., described as a
consultant to Georgia's
DOE.

STATUS:
No response
rec'd from
Sup't Gray as of
Mar. 27, 2006

Throughout history,
we've seen time
after time that a few
men and women with
courage and
conviction can
change the world.

All along the
frontiers of freedom
as the walls fell, it
was not political
parties, armies or
organizations that
opened the door to
liberty, but brave
individuals who
gathered together
to share their hopes
and dreams, and
showed the way
forward.

-- Terry Davidson,
State Department

QUERY
THE SUPE
(& CC THE BOARD)

DATE FIRST SENT:
FEB. 14, 2006

RE-SENT 03/26/06

Dear Strongsville
Superintendent
James Gray:

I'm hoping you can
clear something up for
me for my book and
website regarding your
standards for
administrative
practices in
Strongsville as there
have been not one but
two situations this past
year warranting
scrutiny....

Regarding special ed
teacher Christine
Scarlett's offering a
date with herself as a
grades incentive

1.    What rules/
guidelines do you now
have in place to
assure that nothing
like this happens
again? Would these
be administrative
changes or has your
board set specific
policies in place for
you to follow in future?

2.    Rumors of an affair
between Scarlett and
Bradigan persisted for
several months. You
have stated that you
have no idea such an
affair was going on.
Do you feel the fact
that you are
commuting from your
home in Akron (if this
has changed, please
let me know) has
adversely impacted
your ability to monitor
what's going on with
your employees in the
Strongsville
community in an
important and
sensitive area such as
this? Has your board
since made a
condition of your
employment that you
move to Strongsville
and become an
integral part of their
community?

Regarding the sex
education booklet
placed last fall in
young children's
lockers

4.    What guidelines
did you follow from
your established
board's policies for
such?

5.    There appears to
be a growing number
of parents who want to
be consulted before
such materials are
given to their students.
As one mom put it,
"What's wrong with so
many people in the
educational fields that
they don't even think
twice about providing
children with
inappropriate
materials and not even
consider the parents
wishes....Their tactics
mirror those used in
Communist China and
Cuba where children
are considered not
children of parents, but
wards of the State."
While this is clearly the
statement of an upset
parent, it does raise an
interesting issue
regarding public
school administrators
in the U.S. Do you
consider the students
in your schools yours
to educate as you
deem best or the
offspring of parents to
be consulted before
disseminating such
materials?

Regarding trainings
and conferences

6.    Of which
education-related
associations are you
and Strongsville City
Schools a member?
What are these
organizations'
guidelines for
disseminating such
materials?

7.    In which
education-related
conferences have
your and your staff
participated this past
year? Where were
they and what were
the costs for each?
Have you attended any
other seminars,
workshops or the like
offering guidance in
this area, and what
were those costs?

It may well be that
there are perfectly
reasonable
explanations for your
approving the placing
sex-education
pamphlets in young
students' lockers
without notifying
parents first, and it may
also well be that there
is a perfectly
reasonable
explanation for your
allowing a teacher to
offer a date at the Dairy
Queen with herself to a
young student; if so, I
am eager to learn such
reason or reasons.
==================
She said the booklet,
which also provides
information on the need for
parental consent for
abortion and a Web
address for the
Lesbian/Gay Community
Service Center of Greater
Cleveland, is
inappropriate for
11-year-olds. I believe
some sex education needs
to be given, but when
subjects are discussed or
material is given to kids of
this nature, a notice
should be sent home to
the parent and they should
be allowed to opt out of
the program if they wish,
Fleming said. School
Superintendent James
Gray said he gave an OK
for the pocket-sized
directories, which were
provided to the district by
United Way Services in
conjunction with the
county health department
and county commissioners,
to be given to students at
the high school, middle
schools and to sixth
graders. Gray said he
received two calls from
parents who took
exception to the booklet's
content. I understand that
and probably, in
retrospect, I should have
considered sending a
letter along with it as far
as an explanation, he
said, adding, this is a
developing situation. I
don't know what we are
going to do at this point.
Colleen Grady, a city
resident and a member of
the state school board,
said she got calls from four
parents concerned about
their children getting the
directory. Grady, who is
also a former city school
board member, said she
has not personally seen
the publication, but they
(parents) read me sections
over the telephone. She
said the state board of
education may wish to
make a legislative
recommendation to the
Ohio general assembly,
and the board could also
consider discussion about
adoption of a model policy
for the distribution of such
materials. Gray said there
will be continued
discussion, in the district's
curriculum and pupil
services departments on
whether to curtail
distribution of materials
which are considered to
be sensitive, particularly
for the younger kids.

REPORT FROM CBS/AP
Oct. 10, 2006
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. A former
school superintendent was
sentenced to up to 12 years in
prison Tuesday for looting more
than $2 million from his Long
Island district to finance lavish a
lifestyle of Concorde flights,
fancy resorts and high-priced
meals.

Frank Tassone, 59, drew a
harsh rebuke from victims as
he was given four to 12 years
for a scandal once described by
the state comptroller as the "the
largest, most remarkable, most
extraordinary theft" from a
school system in American
history.

"Anything positive you may have
accomplished during your
tenure in Roslyn was washed
away in one fell swoop, your
own personal tsunami of
arrogance, entitlement,
materialism and avarice," said
Clifford Saffron, speaking on
behalf of the Roslyn school
board.

Tassone stood before the
bench in an orange prison jump
suit with his hands cuffed in the
front as he apologized for his
actions.

"I am deeply sorry to the people
of Roslyn, to the youngsters of
Roslyn," Tassone said, his
voice cracking. "I am sincerely
sorry for what I have done."

The sentencing took place after
Tassone was shackled to his
hospital bed and arrested last
week after missing repeated
court dates due to what he
described as a heart problem.
In addition to the prison term,
the plea agreement calls for
him to make restitution to the
Roslyn school district.

Tassone, of Manhattan, was
one of six conspirators involved
in the theft of up to $11.2 million
from the district, and he
pleaded guilty to grand larceny
in September 2005. He was the
last of the six to be sentenced.

The $2 million taken by
Tassone financed flights
aboard the Concorde for British
vacations, cruises, hotel and
resort accommodations,
furniture, jewelry and meals.
More than $1 million was stolen
via ATM cash advances,
prosecutors said.

If convicted at trial, Tassone
could have been sentenced to
up to 25 years in prison. He has
already paid back all but
$373,000 of the $2.2 million that
he owes, authorities said.

Tassone was arrested last
Wednesday at Lenox Hill
Hospital in Manhattan after
missing his scheduled
sentencing for the second time
in three weeks. He was later
transferred to the Nassau
University Medical Center jail
unit in East Meadow to be
closer to the courthouse for
Tuesday's sentencing.

Because Tassone missed the
court dates, the judge said the
sentence promised with his
plea deal would become invalid
if he would have missed
Tuesday's sentencing.

Since the Roslyn scandal broke
more than two years ago,
school administrators in
several other districts have
been charged with misusing, or
in some cases stealing,
taxpayer funds. Sometime in the
mid-1970s, state officials
looking to cut spending decided
that school districts no longer
warranted outside audits and
left spending reviews to local
school boards, state
Comptroller Alan Hevesi said.

Since the Roslyn scandal
broke, Hevesi has gotten
approval to add more than 80
investigators to his staff to
specifically monitor school
spending.

The Roslyn school district, 20
miles from Manhattan, sends
95 percent of its high school
graduates to college, and SAT
scores are among the best in
the nation.

Tuesday
January 30, 2007
____________

Questions for
the
American
Association
of
School
Administrators:

You call
yourselves a
"professional
organization for
educational
leaders."

1.
As a trade
organization, what
are you doing to
alert the people in
your trade--
america's
public school
superintendents--
to possible
incidents of
embezzlement in
our public school
districts?

2.
Why is it that
a search on
your site for
"internal
controls"
only yields one
result, and that
connected with the
US DOE?

SUPES FORGETTING THEIR
PLACE IN THE SCHEME OF
THINGS
MDCPS supe Rudy Crew v. MDCPS trustee
Marta Perez
By Peyton Wolcott - Copyright 2007
Sunday, April 8, 2007/1:09 am

MDCPS funds, including costs for redoing his
offices, Perez sued Crew in January to try to get
answers. This information is after all, a matter of
public record, as isall public education spending.

Crew "refused to include four of her items on the
school board's December meeting agenda, arguing
that they dealt with issues over which the board had
no authority."

The cost of what appears to be Crew's stonewalling
if not arrogance? Legal bills estimated to be in the
$100,000 range. (SOURCE--MiamiHerald)

What did Perez ask Crew about? Costs for
remodeling MDSCPS administrative offices and
also executive salaries for district administrators
including his buddies whom he's reportedly added
to the MDCPS payroll.

No wonder Marta was asking; imagine the rumors.

How better for Crew to put an end to the
rumors circulating around his district
than to come forward with the proof that
he's not wasted money on an
extravagant office re-do and is not
employing cronies in high-paying jobs.
But apparently he doesn't see things quite that way.
As so often has occurred elsewhere across the
U.S., rather than simply responding to questions
about spending, superintendent Crew has chosen
to not only stonewall but also to spend taxpayer
dollars on attorneys to do so.

CURRENT
LEGAL
STANDING:
Circuit court,
Mar. 29, 2007:
"Perez's
attorney,
Stephen Cody,
said the law
grants the
super-
intendent the
responsibility of
preparing and
distributing the
agenda, but not
to decide what
appears on it."
Disappointing
comment from
circuit court
judge Ronald
Friedman: ''I'm
looking around
this room; I think
this is
ridiculous.''
(SOURCE--Taniade
Luzuriaga/Miami
Herald)

No, judge.
What's ridicu-
lous is that
you're dismis-
sing as minor-
leagues
internecine
squabbling two
of the major
power battles
in U.S.
education
today. He who
controls the
agenda controls
the dollars. He
who spends the
dollars without
trustees' close
supervision and
monitoring gets
to spend--and
mis-spend--
them as he
pleases.

"Capitalizing on
board weak
ness, Superin-
tendent Rudy
Crew has had
the temerity to
seize control of
what members
can discuss in
their own public
meetings and
even limit what
they can dis-
cover about
school finances.

It was easy to
keep members
in check—
except for Marta
Perez, who has
a penchant for
asking about
spending and a
push to be
heard. Dr. Crew
refused to
answer her
seven public-
records
requests about
finances,
including for
costs of
renovating the
board's offices,
[claiming] "' I do
not believe that
the effort
required of my
staff to gather
and organize
the information
regarding job
descriptions
and cost of all
board office
renovations
...is an effective
use of their
time.' "
(SOURCE--
Michael Lewis/
Miami News)

RUDY'S
$550,000
ANNUAL SALARY
PACKAGE
INCLUDES A
$240,000 HOME
LOAN FULLY
FORGIVEN
IN 2008
"Paul Cejas, a
former school
board chairman
and one-time
U.S. ambassa-
dor to Belgium,
came forward
and offered
Crew a home
loan. One-
quarter of the
loan would be
forgiven every
year, and if
Crew stayed
until 2008, he
wouldn't owe
anything. Cejas
told the Miami
Herald he had
no business
connections
with the school
district and
would not
pursue any."
(SOURCE--ASBJ)

MDCPS
supe Rudy
Crew;
trustee
Marta Perez
(Crew photo--
Scholastic)

One of the nation’s highest-paid
public school superintendents
is being sued by one of his
board members for repeatedly
violating a public records
request relating to the costly
renovation of his lavish office
and his highly-paid friends on
the school district’s payroll.

With a yearly compensation
package of $550,000, Miami
Dade School Superintendent
Rudy Crew is among the country’
s best paid school chiefs and
evidently he feels this power
shields him from the state’s
renowned open records law
known as the Sunshine Law.

It turns out that Crew, who failed
to improve New York City
schools in four years as
chancellor, has repeatedly and
unlawfully ignored various public
records requests in the last few
years. Among them is the
demand for an itemized list of
the costs associated with the
taxpayer-financed renovation of
board member offices as well
as a list of district employees
whose salaries exceeded six
figures.

In a March 2005 memo to the
school board member
requesting the public
information, Crew said that he
did not believe that the effort
required of his staff to gather
and organize the information
was an effective use their time.
So, he has completely
disregarded the request and
now the district of 350,000
students will waste more money
defending the legal action.
(SOURCE--Corruption Chronicles)

PW/MEMO
TO RUDY:
Hey, fella! It's
called a "school
BOARD meet-
ing"! It's not
called a "school
SUPERIN-
TENDENT
meeting"! This
is why your
trustees, the
folks you work
for, get to set
their own agen-
da! They also
get to ask you
how you're
spending tax-
payers' dollars!
Get it? You're
the trustees'
helper-person,
not their boss!

Power-hungry
superintendent teaches
bad civics lessons
By Michael Lewis
Miami News
March 29, 2007

Let's hope a judge gives Miami-
Dade Public Schools students a
vital civics lesson this week. The
superintendent should get the
same lesson — and a reprimand.

The case to be heard today (3/29)
in circuit court will help decide
who's really in charge of the
schools — the board we elected
or the superintendent the board
hired.

Capitalizing on board weakness,
Superintendent Rudy Crew has
had the temerity to seize control
of what members can discuss in
their own public meetings and
even limit what they can discover
about school finances.

It was easy to keep members in
check — except for Marta Perez,
who has a penchant for asking
about spending and a push to be
heard. Dr. Crew refused to
answer her seven public-records
requests about finances,
including for costs of renovating
the board's offices. He also
refused to let her put four items
on the agenda, saying the topics
were none of the board's
business.

Dr. Perez didn't cave in. She sued
Dr. Crew for the information and
the right to talk in public. The
information issue went to a
magistrate for resolution; the right
to get on the board agenda is due
to be discussed in court today.
What kind of lessons has Dr.
Crew been teaching?

•Thumb your nose at the bosses.
Now that you're doing the job,
they can't fire you, so push 'em
around.
•Keep things secret. What they
don't know can't hurt you.
•The public has no rights. The
records Dr. Perez requested
should be available to every
member of the public — but you
can stonewall 'em.
•Muzzle elected officials. Board
members can't talk among
themselves in private — it's
against the Sunshine Law — so if
you keep them from talking in
public, you can control everything
they do.

When Dr. Perez asked Dr. Crew
for records she had every right to
get as his boss, as an elected
official and as a member of the
public, he wrote her:

"I do not believe that the effort
required of my staff to gather and
organize the information
regarding job descriptions and
cost of all board office
renovations ... is an effective use
of their time."

That could be the response of
every public servant trying to hide
facts from the public. That's why
Florida has a Sunshine Law,
requiring that requested
information be turned over in a
timely manner.

But even were there no Sunshine
Law, can you imagine anyone
telling his boss that answering
her questions isn't an effective
use of time so he's not going to
do it? Dr. Crew, that's your boss
asking. What nerve!

Now, it's perfectly true that Dr.
Perez asks about a whole lot of
things. She's nosy. She can be a
nitpicker and a nuisance.
But she was elected to ask.
Whether she's on target or way off
base, she deserves answers on
two grounds — she's the boss,
and it's the law. What part of that
doesn't Dr. Crew understand?
Besides withholding information,
Dr. Crew is choking discussion. If
members can't get items on their
agenda, they can't discuss them.
That may be fine with him, but the
superintendent has no right to
limit free public discussion. It's
the board's agenda, not his.
But Dr. Crew and his attorney
have decided the law lets them
control the agenda. Several board
members disagree, and they're
right. It's not the law that gives
him the power but the muscle he
wields over a compliant board.
That's the issue in court today.

Of course, the fight to pry loose
information is costing big bucks.
Board members are paying Dr.
Crew's attorney $450 an hour of
public money to keep the public
in the dark and muzzled when it
suits the superintendent to do so.

And so, his other lesson to date:
•It's on your nickel. Whatever I
screw up, you pay for.

All of this is upside down. The
board hires the superintendent,
who should realize that he is
employee, not boss. But the
board lets him get away with
murder — murder of our rights.
What is this teaching young
people?

Let's hope that this week's court
case is a better educator, one
that teaches that might does not
make right, that public
information is indeed public and
that public service should be
exactly that — public service.

Dr. Crew should be lucky not to
get detention.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools
is the scene of a pivotal fight in public
education; supe Rudy Crew refused
to put trustee Marta Perez's items on
the board's agenda because he didn't
think they were legal, citing the
worn-out argument that supes get to
spend taxpayer dollars, with no
questions askable by trustees.

It should be no surprise to anyone
that this issue is being advanced by a
former ERDI consultant.

New York State Comptroller
Alan Hevesi called Roslyn's
$11.2 million loss the "the
largest, most remarkable, most
extraordinary theft from a school
system in American history."

Tasson'es
four-stage
career

JAIL FOR 'TRAITOR'
SCHOOLS' CHIEF THIEF GOES
FROM COCKY HOTSHOT TO
SHACKLED & SNIVELING
WRETCH IN L.I. COURT
By Kieran Crowley
New York Post
October 11, 2006

October 11, 2006 -- The
shamed superintendent of the
Roslyn, L.I., schools was a
pathetic shell of his former
arrogant self yesterday as he
shuffled into court in a prison
jumpsuit, sloppy and sniveling,
to land four to 12 years in
prison for massive fraud.

Crooked official Frank Tassone
admitted stealing $2.2 million
in a scheme that milked more
than $11 million from the
district - an outrageous breach
of trust that led the judge to
brand him a "traitor" to his
community.

"I am deeply sorry to the people
of Roslyn, to the youngsters of
Roslyn . . . I am sincerely sorry
for what I have done," an
emotional Tassone told the
packed courtroom in what
amounted to his first public
apology since the scandal
broke two years ago.

During his wild spending
spree, the 59-year-old
administrator had spared no
expense for trips to the
Caribbean, gambling junkets to
Vegas, luxury autos and fancy
skin treatments. He also
lavished gifts on his longtime
gay lover, Stephen Signorelli, a
defendant in the scheme.

Tassone was the last of six
defendants sentenced in the
largest rip-off of a school district
in the nation.

"Today, you are a traitor . . . and
have committed treason
against our community and our
society," said a stern Judge
Alan Honorof in Nassau
Supreme Court.

The disheveled Tassone, his
once-perfect hair rumpled and
unkempt, sat glumly in an
orange prison jumpsuit, his
hands shackled before him.

Bloated and pale, he appeared
to be choking back tears as he
addressed the court.

His sentencing - where angry
students and parents filled the
courtroom - came only after
authorities were forced to
shackle the disgraced former
district chief to his hospital bed
and arrest him last week after
he repeatedly missed court
dates.

Tassone pleaded guilty to
grand larceny in September
2005.

Had he gone to trial, he could
have been sentenced to up to
25 years.

He also was ordered to pay the
$373,895.20 he still owes of the
money he stole.

His emotional apology did little
to assuage one school official,
who angrily addressed
Tassone before the sentencing.

"Parents entrust you with their
children, they entrust you with
our future," said Cliff Saffron, a
member of the school district's
board of trustees.

"No one in Roslyn would use
the term 'noble' to describe Dr.
Tassone.

"Other words come to mind:
fiend, felon, crook, criminal,
scoundrel and svengali.

"Anything positive you may have
accomplished during your
tenure in Roslyn was washed
away in one fell swoop, your
own personal tsunami of
arrogance, entitlement,
materialism and avarice," he
added.

Tassone was handcuffed and
placed under arrest last
Wednesday at Lenox Hill
Hospital in Manhattan after
missing his scheduled
sentencing for the second time
in three weeks.

On Monday, he was transferred
to the Nassau University
Medical Center jail unit in East
Meadow to be closer to the
courthouse for yesterday's
sentencing.

Tassone was hospitalized last
month with a possible heart
attack and missed his Sept. 19
sentencing, which had been
rescheduled for Oct. 4.

When Tassone failed to appear
again, Honorof issued the
arrest warrant.

In all, six people, including
Tassone and Pamela Gluckin -
the district's former
superintendent for business -
pleaded guilty in the scandal.

State auditors found that $11.2
million was stolen from the
district between 1996 and
2004, but because some of the
records are missing or were
destroyed, prosecutors were
only able to link about $7
million to Tassone and his
co-defendants.

Gluckin was sentenced last
month to three to nine years in
prison and agreed to repay $4.3
million.

Last March, Tassone's
longtime lover, Signorelli -
whom Tassone involved in the
scam - was sentenced to one
to three years for his role.
Sources said Tassone also
cheated on Signorelli with other
men and gave evidence against
him.

After that hearing, Signorelli's
lawyer, Kenneth Weinstein,
said his client still loved the
disgraced superintendent.

Tassone lived like a sultan off
his loot, booking luxurious
cruises overseas, taking trips to
Britain on the costly Concorde,
filling his home with extravagant
furniture and splurging on
assorted glitzy jewelry.

Tassone's shopping bill for
simple items for his Manhattan
home reached an uncommonly
high figure, $30,000 - for toilet
paper, pet food and laundry.

To reward both himself,
Signorelli and other gay lovers,
Tassone made frequent trips to
the ATM for cash advances
totaling more than $1 million,
prosecutors said.

After Tassone's hearing, one
angry student vented about the
effects of the outrageous
scandal, noting how others now
viewed students from the
once-respected district.

"Oh, you're from Roslyn. That's
a joke," Dianne Milner, 17,
quoted others telling her.

Disgusted, she then added:

"He didn't look at us when he
apologized."

Since the Roslyn scandal broke
more than two years ago,
school administrators in
several other districts have
been charged with misusing,
and in some cases stealing,
taxpayer funds.

Sometime in the mid-1970s,
state officials looking to cut
spending decided that school
districts no longer warranted
outside audits and left
spending reviews to local
school boards, state
Comptroller Alan Hevesi said.

Since the Roslyn scandal
broke, Hevesi has gotten
approval to add more than 80
investigators to his staff to
specifically monitor school
spending.

The Roslyn School District is
located in a wealthy community
20 miles from Manhattan.

The village within the town of
Hempstead has a median
household income of $101,622.

It sends 95 percent of its
high-school graduates on to
college and boasts student SAT
scores that are among some of
the best in the nation.

kieran.crowley@nypost.com

CHUMP IN CHAINS: The cuffed and
disheveled ex-superintendent is led
yesterday to court in Mineola, L.I.,
where he was sentenced to four to
12 years. Cops rousted Tassone
from his hospital bed after he missed
two straight sentencing dates by
claiming illness. (SOURCE--NYPost)

Here's Jack Skolnick's new
website for parents of Down
Syndrome children:
www.po-ds.com

SHORT VERSION OF PEREZ'S
DISPUTE WITH CREW: She's
asking questions about
Crew's spending and hiring
we'd want any trustee to ask.
When Crew refused to answer Perez'
questions about Crews' spending of

Recent articles offer an overview:

For more information on Arizona
public schools including such
supes as Sandra Dowling:

www.peytonwolcott.
com/Arizona.html

Curious
about ERDI,
why it's still
relevant a year
since its sale?
ERDI alumni
supe consult-
ants pop up in
all manner of
places and
situations.
EXAMPLES:

Rudy Crew
Miami Dade
CPS

Arlene
Ackerman
(formerly
San Francisco
USD)

Mike Moses
(formerly
Dallas ISD,
TEA commish)

Doug Otto
Plano ISD

Leonard Merrell
Katy ISD

Beverly Hall
Atlanta PS